Samsung Launches Galaxy J1 (2016)

Samsung has gone official with the 2016 model Galaxy J1, the modest entry level device not getting a big event but instead being released quietly. The handset was unveiled in Dubai, but it is hard to see this humble handset being targeted for the jet set rich who have made Dubai home.

The Galaxy J1 is hardly going to jump off the page if you love blazing specs, but then we know by now that specs are not everything. Regardless, the handset gets a bit of an upgrade over its predecessor, coming with 4.5-inch screen (up from 4.3-inch) with 480p resolution, a 1.3 GHz quad-core Exynos 3475 CPU, 1GB of DDR3 RAM, a 5 megapixel rear camera, a 2 megapixel front facing lens, a 2050mAh battery, and Android 5.1.1 Lollipop to run the show. All J1 models from 2016 pack LTE connectivity, something that was specific to a pricier variant last year.

With the original Galaxy J1 we liked what Samsung had created, a nice looking smartphone for the budget conscience. However, it was still an expensive prospect next to handsets from China that have better specs and better price tags. Not that we know anything of course, the Galaxy J1 became a hit for Sammy, selling millions of units, so any misgivings we have about the new model probably don?t matter. Chalk one up to marketing we guess.

That said, we still think the Galaxy J1 is too expensive, the 2016 version is listed in Dubai for the equivalent of $135.

About the author

Ang TorresAng is currently studying a degree in computer sciences, but makes time for her first love, tech. She has followed mobile trends since first jumping onto the feature phone market in 2004 and is now an unabashed Samsung fangirl.